February 01, 2013

48HRS of Tristate -- 2013 Edition

I love driving on snow-covered roads, especially if there are drifts. But I never thought I'd hear anyone else ask, "When do we get to the snowy roads?"

Those are the kind of people you hang out with when you participate in this charity drive that raises money for the American Cancer Society. The 48HRS of Tristate drive took place January 17-20, 2013.

Where were the snow-covered roads? Here's where they were NOT -- Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even Vermont, at least on the routes we took. But on the second day of the drive, twisting around the mountains in northern New York, we found them. Accompanied by moderate snow squalls, the snow-packed roads were a delight for us Subaru drivers.

Fifty-five Subaru vehicles took part in the 2013 version of 48HRS of Tristate -- three days of driving close to 1,000 miles. More importantly, the drivers and passengers raised almost $32,000 for cancer research. This is the heart of the weekend.

Although our drives took place over three different routes in three different groups, the dynamics were similar. Communicating via CB radios, each group of 13 and more vehicles plied roads that the group leaders had devised. All of them strove for scenery and fun-to-drive roads. They succeeded.

For added interest, we made stops at motorsports team headquarters. That allowed us to talk with team owners and see the latest race cars -- all being prepared for their 2013 seasons.

Participants drove everything from 1990s Impreza and Forester vehicles to Legacy and Outback models. At least one Baja joined the pack, and I had a 2013 XV Crosstrek that started its journey with a little more than 500 miles on the odometer.

Find maps, see photographs, and read more about the event here. Find another gallery here. Read a Drive Performance article about charity drives here.